We all tend to get a little nostalgic and reminisce about the good old times. Rumors suggest folks over at Microsoft are in exactly this type of mood and are actively trying to revive a pair of old Marvel games and fully capitalize on the smashing success of Deadpool and Wolverine.
If you ever wondered why old games lose developer support, get delisted from stores, don’t get sequels, etc., the answer is always this—because of money. Thankfully, money also brings publishers back to abandoned IPs, and nothing is making as much money right now as Marvel’s latest superhero flick, Deadpool and Wolverine.
The movie’s $1 billion box office has supposedly caught the attention of Microsoft executives, who have started digging through their video game catalog, searching for a way to join the party. They found two old Activision-published games—Deadpool and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance—which could make a return. With current reports of Deadpool skyrocketing in price on the secondary market, we could definitely see why Microsoft chose it for revival.
During one of the regular “XboxEra” podcasts, leaker Nick Baker shared he “heard” that Microsoft is looking to get Deadpool and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance relicensed and bring them back to the Microsoft Store. Both of these titles were originally published by Activision, now owned by Microsoft.
Activision lost the licensing rights for Deadpool and Marvel: Deadly Alliance before the acquisition, resulting in the games being pulled out of all stores and unavailable through legal means. Despite these games technically falling under the Microsoft cap, the company will have to reacquire the licensing if it wants to start selling copies of Deadpool and Marvel: Deadly Alliance once more.
Microsoft selected these two titles for obvious reasons besides being published by Activision. The Deadpool and Wolverine movie is this summer’s premier superhero blockbuster, and the video game titles chosen by Microsoft just so happen to star exactly these two characters. But Deadpool is featured much more prominently in his game than Wolverine is in Ultimate Alliance.
Despite Microsoft apparently treating them as a package deal, these games couldn’t be any more different from each other. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is much older. It was released in 2006, while Deadpool released in 2013. It was received much better by fans and critics and spawned not one but two sequels to Deadpool’s zero. They are also different genres, with Deadpool focusing on hack-and-slash combat and Ultimate Alliance being more of an action RPG.
The rumor doesn’t mention anything about Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, also published by Activision and unavailable for purchase. Nintendo published the third installment, but it would make sense to include Ultimate Alliance’s sequel if Microsoft actually goes ahead with its plan to revive these IPs.
Whether the company agrees with our logic or not, and regardless of whether this is just an attempt to make a quick buck out of the Deadpool and Wolverine craze, we always support the preservation of video games and would love it if this rumor turns out to be true.
